Mary Berry recipes: THIS secret tip explains baker's success

The 83-year-old culinary TV star said she had long followed advice from a former employer who had steered her away from making her cooking seem too complicated to others.

Instead, she was pushed in the right direction by keeping the language simple – and understandable – in her recipes.

In a wideranging interview with the BBC Good Food magazine, the former Great British Bake Off judge explained: “My best advice was given to me by my boss at the time, Olwen Frances – she’s in heaven now.

“I was asked to do some writing for a magazine and I said, ‘I can cook, but I didn’t pass English in School Cert.’

“And she told me, ‘Write as you talk.’ So I leave out all the fancy words in my recipes.”

Following her departure from Bake Off after the format was sold to Channel 4, Ms Berry is now working on a new programme for the BBC, Britain’s Best Home Cook.

Presented by Claudia Winkleman – who insists her Bolognese has magical qualities – it is judged by Ms Berry, the former Bake Off taskmaster and author of more than 75 cookbooks.

And when it comes to her favourite dish, the veteran cook also revealed she likes to keep it simple.

She said: “My mother’s apple pie.

“Dad would bring in windfalls first thing in the morning and she would set to and make the pastry.

“I make her flaky pastry to this day by grating the butter and the lard, half and half.

“The pie was always in the same chipped enamel dish; she would have thin pastry underneath and slightly thicker pastry on top – it was perfect.”

She added that although she has been in the business a long time, she still enjoys the kind words of the public.

She said: “From time to time, people tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘I make your lemon drizzle cake,’ or ‘I love your steak and kidney pie,’ or ‘I always make your lasagne.’ It’s very touching.”